BRUNO FERNANDES has played down his on-pitch row with Victor Lindelof as Manchester United crashed out of the Europa League.
The Swedish defender was hammered for losing goalscorer Luuk de Jong as the Dutchman struck a 78th-minute winner for Sevilla in Sunday’s semi-final.
TV cameras picked up the furious argument between the United teammates on the pitch
After the goal, Fernandes was seen lambasting Lindelof, pointing and shouting at his colleague who looked astonished at being blamed, shaking his head and bellowing back at the playmaker.
The matter was dealt with there and then, as 25-year-old Fernandes saw it, and he explained post-game that “everyone” was angry after conceding the goal.
He told BT Sport: “I think it’s normal, you know, when you [concede] a goal in the last [minutes] – we have 10 minutes after to score again.
“Everyone was mad. It’s not about me or Victor, it’s about every team.
“What happened between me and Victor is nothing. It’s normal, it’s football, it happens. It’s looking for each other.
“There will be many more times these things happen in other teams.
Victor Lindelof was guilty of losing Luuk de Jong for Sevilla’s winning goalCredit: EPA
But Bruno Fernandes and Co had missed several good chances down the other endCredit: AFP
“The most important thing now is we need to see the mistakes everyone did and look forward to improve in the next games.”
Fernandes had set United on their way to victory in Cologne with the side’s 22nd penalty of the season.
Yet slack defending allowed an unmarked Suso to level from the far-post after 25 minutes.
Still, United had the lion’s share of the chances and Yassine Bounou’s exceptional performance in the Sevilla goal helped consign Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to their third semi-final defeat of the season.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty technique at Sporting Lisbon
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
